White Fire
by Chaska 1
Summary: AU in which Kija was kidnapped and raised in the Fire Tribe.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: Hakuryuu**

At first, when Kan Soo-Jin heard one of his soldiers informing him about a hidden village inhabited by people with white hair, Kan Soo-Jin told his soldier, "You must have been imagining things because how can a village filled with old men and woman even exist?"

"General Kan Soo-Jin, it is true that the village was filled with men and woman with that particular hair color, but most of them were young and even the children had white hair. Also, -" The soldier got interrupted by Kan Soo-Jin, who said, "Enough! This is nothing but a figment of your imagination! Get out of my sight!"

The soldier did what the general told him to do.

Later that day, Kan Soo-Jin spotted his 15-year-old son, Kan Kyo-Ga, reading a book to Kan Tae-Jun, Kan Soo-Jin's youngest son, about King Hiryuu. At first, Kan Soo-Jin wanted to interrupt Kan Kyo-Ga by reminding him some parts were fictional, but, when Kan Kyo-Gan mentioned the Dragons (specifically, the White Dragon/Hakuryuu), Kan Soo-Jin began to think about what his soldier told him earlier and if there was a possibility the White Dragon may live there. So, without any of his children noticing him, Kan Soo-Jin leaves to talk privately with the soldier, who had seen the hidden village.

"Where exactly did you see this village?" Kan Soo-Jin asked.

"Near the border of the Fire Tribe and the Earth Tribe. I can escort you there, General Kan Soo-Jin" The soldier said.

"From what you saw, were the people of the village trained soldiers?" Kan Soo-Jin asked.

"From what I saw, none looked to be trained warriors, but appearances can be deceiving." The soldier informed Kan Soo-Jin.

"Tonight, prepare to guide me to that village and get ready for a battle." Kan Soo-Jin informed the soldier.

That night there was no moon; General Kan Soo-Jin along with a handful of his soldiers (including the same soldier who had informed him about the village). Also, General Kan Soo-Jin had divided his army in two groups: One that would attack by the front while the other one would attack from behind. That way encircling the village and assuring an easy victory.

But, when they were close to the village, one of the village archers spotted them and warned the village; Kan Soo-Jin had no choice but to attack without the element of surprise at his side and he had severely underestimated the villagers, who started to attack both of Kan Soo-Jin's groups with all they had. The battle was so bloody that a huge puddle of blood was forming in the village. Yet, Kan Soo-Jin remained undeterred and continued to slaughter everyone in his way until one of the villagers told him where the Hakuryuu was. When they arrived at the place where the Hakuryuu was, Kan Soo-Jin killed the villager and entered the place while dragging the villager's corpse.

Inside, there were 4 villagers (or better said, warriors) armed with bows and swords ready to give there life for Hakuryuu, who was just a 6-year-old boy.

The young boy was scared and confused for he didn't know what was going on and feared for the worst.

"You should be using your weapons to defend everyone else, not just me!" The boy implored them.

"Hakuryuu-sama, right now you are the one who-" The villager shut up when a step was heard which made one of the villagers shoot an arrow. The sound of the arrow hitting something and a body falling was heard, which for a moment alleviated the villagers until an arrow hit the villager.

Quickly, the remaining villagers put themselves in front of the boy and started to throw arrows at the intruder, but to no avail for the steps were getting louder and closer until the intruder, Kan Soo-Jin, was in the room.

Kan Soo-Jin didn't hesitate in killing the remaining villagers until the only ones left were him and the young Hakuryuu who was crying and trembling.

"P-p-p-please l-l-le-leave." The young Hakuryuu said repeatedly.

A few seconds later, the first rays of sunlight lit up the room revealing the amount of blood and corpses. Upon seeing that, the young Hakuryuu screamed and passed out on the spot while Kan Soo-Jin, who was covered in blood, smiled upon seeing the right hand of the boy.

"I'll have a god by my side." Kan Soo-Jin thought while picked up and carried the Hakuryuu.

Everyone, except for Kan Soo-Jin and the young Hakuryuu, was dead and to cover up his tracks Kan Soo-Jin burned the village until ashes were the only thing remaining. The 'official' story that Kan Soo-Jin came up with was that there was a village which was actually a secret rebel group that was planning on overthrowing Emperor Joo-Nam and, upon receiving new of this, Kan Soo-Jin killed them all for the safety and prosperty of the Emperor and the Kouka Kingdom. Considering that Kan Soo-Jin was the only witness and that, after the years of war, the Emperor had become paranoid, no one questioned his story.

As for the Hakuryuu, Kan Soo-Jin knew that the young boy could be molded to be a weapon for the Fire Tribe, but Kan Soo-Jin had to be careful because he knew that, if the boy ever figured out the truth, the life of his family would be in danger and, upon remembering that the daughter of Prince Il was born with red hair, Kan Soo-Jin would do everything in his power to make the boy loyal to him.

So, when Kan Soo-Jin returned to his palace and put the unconscious child in private quarters, the next step was of Kan Soo-Jin to convince the boy but, luckily for Kan Soo-Jin, when the boy didn't remember (most likely due to the trauma) which Kan Soo-Jin took advantage of.

"I'm General Kan Soo-Jin and leader of the Fire Tribe. I rescued you from a rebel group." Kan Soo-Jin said.

The boy looked at his right arm and began to panic.

"My arm it's- Why!?" The boy said, but Kan Soo-Jin calmed him down by saying, "This was the reason the rebel group had you. Your right arm symbolizes that you have the power of a god."

"Why me?" The boy asked.

"I don't know that, but what I do know is that you have a mission which is to protect everyone in the Fire Tribe." Kan Soo-Jin said, then began to explain in lengthy detail how the Fire Tribe was composed of descendants of King Hiryuu and who King Hiryuu was.

When Kan Soo-Jin finished his explanation, the boy looked looked at his right arm in amazement, but then asked, "But, what's my name?"

For a moment, Kan Soo-Jin was in deep thought until he said, "I don't know your name and for what I have seen I'm inclined to believe your captors never gave you one. But, from this day, your name will be Hayan-Sek."

Hayan-Sek nodded, then slowly started to fall asleep, but he kept on grabbing Kan Soo-Jin's robe and asked, "Are you going to be here when I wake up?"

Kan Soo-Jin nodded which made Hayan-Sek smile.

Unbeknownst to Kan Soo-Jin, the actions that he committed would make the boy a legend.

**Author's Note**

**Hope that all of you enjoy this and don't forget to RSS!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Fire**

The first clear memory that Hayan-Sek had was of looking at General Kan Soo-Jin, who gave him an identity and kept his promise of being there when he woke up.

"You're still here." Hayan-Sek told General Kan Soo-Jin.

"I did promise you that I would still be here." General Kan Soo-Jin reminded Hayan-Sek.

"Yes." Hayan-Sek said while he smiled.

"But I'll have to go now." General Kan Soo-Jin said.

"Why? Can't you just stay a little longer? I-I don't want to be alone." Hayan-Sek said.

General Kan Soo-Jin looked at the boy and said, "As I mentioned to you earlier, I am the Leader of Tribe, thus I have responsibilities I have to do. But, don't worry, you'll have enough food and water, and I'll visit you again as soon as I can."

With those words, General Kan Soo-Jin left the young boy, who saw a small table with food and water and a small chair nearby. After the boy's stomach growled, the dragged the chair near the table and began eating although he was wondering how much time had passed because, asides from the table, the chair, the bed, and a door, the room was like a red box.

Hayan-Sek briefly stopped eating to look at his right arm, which had white scales, sharp white nails and was bigger than his normal left arm. Even though, General Kan Soo-Jin had explained him the importance of his right arm, Hayan-Sek felt like some sort of monster.

Soon Hayan-Sek lost his appetite and decided to sleep some more. But, when he woke up, he saw that General Kan Soo-Jin was looking at him with an angry expression.

"I see that you didn't finish your food." General Kan Soo-Jin pointed out.

"I lost my appetite… I'm sorry." Hayan-Sek said.

"From now on, eat everything in your plate because you'll need the food in order to grow stronger." General Kan Soo-Jin said with a tone that made the young boy flinch.

"Yes… Um" The boy said.

"What is it!?" General Kan Soo-Jin harshly said.

"Why a-are y-you a-an-angry?" The boy asked with fear in his voice.

General Kan Soo-Jin sighed and managed to calm himself down, then said, "I'm sorry that I scared it's just that a lot of things have happened."

"What things?" The boy asked.

For a moment, General Kan Soo-Jin was in deep thought until he said, "I found that I didn't know my territory as well as I thought."

"Why is that a bad thing?" The boy asked.

"As the Leader of the Fire Tribe is my duty to know everything about my territory because in a situation of war, if I don't know my territory, it could lead to my defeat and the deaths of countless innocents." General Kan Soo-Jin said.

"Then, how are you going to fix it?" Hayan-Sek asked.

"I already have a plan, but I won't be able to execute it for some time." General Kan Soo-Jin said.

"Why?" Hayan-Sek asked.

"After countless wars against other Kingdoms and raiders, my army is no longer the strongest one of the Kouka Kingdom, in fact, I would go as far as to say that it is in shambles. But, you're still a child, so that's nothing for you to worry about." General Kan Soo-Jin said.

"It is!" Hayan-Sek said with such determination that it stunned General Kan Soo-Jin.

Hayan-Sek looked at his right arm, the said, "You told me that this arm symbolizes that I have the power of a god and that my mission is to protect everyone in the Fire Tribe." Haya-Sek looked at Kan Soo-Jin and continued saying, "How can I accomplish my mission if I don't know the state of the Fire Tribe!?"

General Kan Soo-Jin smiled and said, "If you're really serious about accomplishing your mission, then you will have to learn to fight although with your right arm it would be difficult."

"Why?" The boy asked.

"There are a lot of people that crave for your people, thus, if someone else would find out about your arm, you would be in constant danger and become a liability." General Kan Soo-Jin told him.

"Then how about I hide it… Somehow." Hayan-Sek while looking at his right arm.

"That is a possibility, but it will be harder for you because you would have to learn to fight with only your left arm." General Kan Soo-Jin told him.

"Don't worry, I'll do it!" Hayan-Sek said.

"Seeing your determination, I see that you are ready to begin training so tomorrow I'll come." General Kan Soo-Jin said, but, before he left, he pointed at the new food on the table and said, "This time remember to eat _all_ of your food."

"Yes." Hayan-Sek said, then General Kan Soo-Jin left.

The next day, the new recruits were surprise to see that a child would be training with them and that the child's right arm was covered with metal which lead them to belief that the child was born with some kind of deformity and that his parents tried to cover it up before abandoning him because what kind of parents would let a deformed child become a soldier.

Yet, unbeknownst to any of them, there was a priest who had arrived at the burned village and he was praying for the souls of the villagers. But, he felt someone behind him and said, "As you can see, I'm just a humble a priest. I have nothing of worth to give to you"

The person behind him said, "I didn't come here to rob you. I came here because my friend used to live in this village."

The priest nodded and continued to pray.

The man behind him had the appearance of a 17-year-old, had yellow hair, and blue eyes, yet, despite his youthfulness, one could sense an aura of an old person emanating from him. The 17-year-old looked at the burned village with sadness in his eyes, then left.

**Author's Note**

**Hope everyone enjoys this and don't forget to RSS!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: Potential**

For Hayan-Sek, the first day of training was, in short words, Hell mainly because of the metal right 'arm' he had which constricted his movements and made it hard for him to complete the training exercises and it also didn't help that the other soldiers looked at him with a mixture of disgust, sadness, and pity.

When the training day ended, Hayan-Sek was exhausted and almost fainted a couple of times, but he surprisingly managed to keep on going. Also, even though the training day ended for the other soldiers, it didn't end for Hayan-Sek, who was escorted to a private room which alleviated the other soldiers because they didn't want to sleep with a cursed child.

When Hayan-Sek arrived at the private room, he realized that it resembled the room he woke up with the exception that this room was far more glamorous and bigger (rivaling the size of the training field). Inside the room, there was a tall and imposing man waiting for him and, when this man saw Hayan-Sek, the man said, "So, you're the kid I heard so much about."

Hayan-Sek nodded which seemed to anger the man, who said, "What's wrong!? Are you mute!?"

"N-no. I'm not!" Hayan-Sek said.

"Do you mot know how to address your superior, kid!?" The man said.

"Well, I-" Hayan-Sek got interrupted when the man said, "I am Captain Jeong Jung-Ho, but you must address me as Captain Jeong."

"Yes, Captain Jeong." Hayan-Sek said.

"Do you know why you were escorted here?"

"To train my right arm?" Hayan-Sek said, but it sounded more like a question which irritated Captain Jeong, who repeated his question with more intensity.

"No, Captain Jeong." Hayan-Sek responded.

"You were brought here in order for me to see how strong your right arm is." Captain Jeong said while pointing at the metal which encasing Hayan-Sek's right arm.

"Do you know how to take it off?" Captain Jeong asked.

"Yes, Captain Jeong." Hayan-Sek answered, but, before Hayan-Sek could take it off, Captain Jeong said, "Break it with your right arm."

Hayan-Sek looked at Captain Jeong, then at his right arm and tried to command it to somehow break the metal, but nothing happened. Yet, before Hayan-Sek gave up, Hayan-Sek felt some sort of power going through his right arm and suddenly his right arm managed to enlarge itself, thus easily breaking the metal as if it was never there.

Obviously, this feat surprised everyone in the room, but, asides from Hayan-Sek, everyone was under strict orders to never reveal the truth about Hayan-Sek's right arm. Nonetheless, it was obvious to everyone that, if Hayan-Sek managed to control this power, he would become unstoppable in the battlefield.

"That's impressive." Captain Jeong said.

Hayan-Sek blushed at the compliment, then he bowed and said, "Thank you very much, Captain Jeong."

"But, I need to see if that power comes with speed." Captain Jeong said.

"What-" Hayan-Sek got interrupted when Captain Jeong thrust out his wooden sword and lunged himself at Hayan-Sek, who wasn't expecting to be attacked by Captain Jeong. Luckily, Captain Jeong stopped when his sword was inches away from Hayan-Sek's neck.

"Never let your guard down." Captain Jeong reminded him.

"Yes, Captain Jeong." Hayan-Sek responded with a stunned tone.

When Captain Jeong backed away from Hayan-Sek, Captain Jeong said, "We are going to start with blocking."

"Yes, Captain Jeong." Hayan-Sek responded.

At first, the attacks were slow, but powerful which was no inconvenience for Hayan-Sek's right arm, but, as time progressed, the attacks began to get much faster and they were beginning to strike at different angles. Soon, it became impossible for Hayan-Sek to block all those attacks and, when Hayan-Sek fell to the floor, Captain Jeong said, "If this was a real fight, you would already be dead."

"N-no. I-I can still fight, C-Captain Jeong." Hayan-Sek said while he was trying to get up and, when he got up, Captain Jeong got close to him and sweep Hayan-Sek's legs.

Before Hayan-Sek passed out, he heard Captain Jeong say, "You can't."

When Hayan-Sek passed out, Captain Jeong managed to catch him and handed him over to one of the escorts, who quickly (along with the other escorts) went to Hayan-Sek's room and left him there. Meanwhile, Captain Jeong went to the council room in order to speak privately with General Kan Soo-Jin.

When Captain Jeong arrived at the council room, the only person there was General Kan Soo-Jin, who said, "Why did you take so long?"

"My apologies, General Kan Soo-Jin. The reason I was late was because of the Hakuryuu." Captain Jeong said while he bowed.

"Stop bowing and tell me your impression of him." General Kan Soo-Jin said.

"His right arm truly has the power of a god, in fact, I witnessed it myself when it enlarged itself and broke the metal that was encasing it, but, even though it's powerful, it's slow and against a fast enemy the Hakuryuu would be dead in a second. Also, asides from his right arm, if the enemy would attack him from the left side or below, the Hakuryuu would be killed. But, even with all those disadvantages, the Hakuryuu does show potential and has determination to overcome this." Captain Jeong said.

"I see. You can now leave." General Kan Soo-Jin said and Captain Jeong obeyed.

When Captain Jeong left, General Kan Soo-Jin began to think about what Captain Jeong had said and what the captain of today's training exercise had previously told him. In conclusion, the Hakuryuu was useless without his right arm.

General Kan Soo-Jin loudly sighed and wondered whether it had been a good idea for the Hakuryuu to train with the army with the Hakuryuu's right arm hidden by the metal, but, upon further examination, that was the best idea that General Kan Soo-Jin could come up with.

After another sigh, General Kan Soo-Jin stood up and went to check on his children because, as of late, both of them had stayed up passed their bedtime and demanded that Kan Soo-Jin read them a bed time story or something like that. Before, Kan Soo-Jin would have done that, but now his oldest son was 15-years-old and the youngest one was 10-years-old so, in Kan Soo-Jin's eyes, they far too old and Kan Soo-Jin mostly blamed it on Iguni, Kan Soo-Jin's wife, who had spoiled them for far too long.

First, Kan Soo-Jin visited his oldest son, Kan Kyo-Ga, who was sleeping while holding a book about King Hiryuu. Kan Soo-Jin gently removed the book from his son's grip and put it aside, then Kan Soo-Jin went to visit his other son, Kan Tae-Jun, who was soundly asleep. Upon looking at his youngest son, Kan Soo-Jin felt contempt because, according to all of the private teachers, Kan Tae-Jun wasn't advancing at the same rate that Kan Kyo-Ga was advancing when he was Kan Tae-Jun's age. Sometimes, Kan Soo-Jin wondered if Kan Tae-Jun would ever stop bringing shame to the family.

Last, Kan Soo-Jin visited Hayan-Sek, who was peacefully sleeping on top of his bed which Kan Soo-Jin corrected by tucking Hayan-Sek into the bed. Even though Kan Soo-Jin didn't want to admit it, every time he would look at Hayan-Sek he could only see a child instead of a weapon, but Kan Soo-Jin believed that everything he was doing was for the Fire Tribe. Also, Kan Soo-Jin began to wonder whether he should give the Hakuryuu a formal education because he also wanted the Hakuryuu to become a counselor and future general for when his oldest son would become King of Kouka.

After softly patting Hayan-Sek's head, Kan Soo-Jin returned to his private quarters where his wife had fallen asleep after waiting a long time for him.

**Author's Note**

**New chapter and don't forget to RSS! **


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: Change**

The next day, Hayan-Sek woke up with no pain as if he hadn't train at all, but Hayan-Sek didn't pay too much attention to it instead he focused more on his dread for the upcoming training. After eating the food that was left in the table and putting on the metal 'arm', Hayan-Sek opened the door to see that a small escort (the same as yesterday) was already waiting for him.

"Do you need us to guide you to the training field?" One of the escorts asked.

Hayan-Sek felt somewhat insulted by this, so he said, "No! I know how to get there by my own!"

Quickly, Hayan-Sek ran towards the training field where he found that it was early, yet that didn't deter him from doing exercises even though, if he had to admit it, those exercises were a hassle thanks to the metal 'arm'. Hayan-Sek didn't know how much time had passed until the rest of the recruits entered the training field.

When Hayan-Sek noticed this, he felt embarrassed because everyone was looking at him with a perplexed look in their face. After a short while of awkward silence, Hayan-Sek asked, "Is there something you want to tell me?"

No one answered back until Hayan-Sek heard someone say, "They're just surprised to see you practice so early."

When Hayan-Sek found that the voice was coming from Captain Lee, who suddenly appeared in front of all of them. Hayan-Sek immediately tried to say something back, but no words would leave his mouth so he just nodded, which seemed to be suffice for Captain Lee.

"Kid, considering that you have already done the exercises. Go run 15 laps around the training field." Captain Lee said.

"Yes, Captain Lee." Hayan-Sek said before he ran the 15 laps.

Then, Captain Lee looked at the rest of the recruits and ordered them begin doing the exercises.

The second day was not as brutal as the first day, but it was still brutal in its own way. Yet, it still bothered Hayan-Sek that his left arm was so weak and bad at almost everything and the pitying expressions of the rest didn't help instead it made him feel worse. Then, like the first day, Hayan-Sek was escorted from the training field, but, instead of going to the glamorous training field, he was escorted to a smaller, yet glamorous room that resembled his own and there was a middle aged man was waiting for him.

Hayan-Sek briefly looked around before asking, "What am I doing here?"

"You are here because General Kan Soo-Jin has decided that you should have a formal education." The middle aged man said.

"Does that mean that I will no longer train with Captain Jeong?" Hayan-Sek asked.

"No, you'll still train with him. The arrangement is that one day you'll have your education with me and the next day it will be with him." The middle aged man explained.

"Thank you… Um-" Hayan-Sek got interrupted when the middle aged man said, "My name is Bak Shi-Kyu, but you must address me as Teacher Shi-Kyu."

"Yes, Teacher Shi-Kyu." Hayan-Sek said.

The teacher nodded and said, "In that case, you should take a seat because the lesson is about to start."

"Yes, Teacher Shi-Kyu." Hayan-Sek said.

Before Hayan-Sek took a seat, he signaled his right arm to the teacher and asked, "Should I take it off?"

"It won't be necessary for today's lecture because today will be just testing your reading skills." The teacher said.

"Yes, Teacher Shi-Kyu." Hayan-Sek said.

At the beginning, it was difficult for Hayan-Sek to understand the words let alone the syllables, but, as time progressed, everything began to become easier for him as if he had learned all of this before, but he didn't pay too much attention to it because he was more concentrated on reading the book that was in front of him. Hayan-Sek didn't know how much time had passed when one of the escorts said that their time was up.

"Thank you very much for the lesson, Teacher Shi-Kyu." Hayan-Sek said.

The teacher nodded in response.

While Hayan-Sek was being escorted, he remembered how he reacted earlier and, after thinking about it, he felt ashamed. So, he bowed and said, "I'm sorry for how I acted earlier."

For a brief moment, everyone looked at Hayan-Sek in amazement until one of the escorts said, "There is no need for you to apologize."

"Still, I need to apologize because you were doing your job and I badly reacted to it." Hayan-Sek said.

"We are already used to it. There's nothing for you to apologize for… But, your apology is appreciated." Another member of the escort said.

When Hayan-Sek entered his room, he said goodbye to the escort group and got ready to sleep, but, before he slept, he had an idea. So, he quietly stood up and started to practice the moves that he had been taught with his left arm. He managed to keep a slow, but firm pace until his muscles started to become sore which meant that he had to rest otherwise he could permanently hurt himself. Thus, he tucked himself in the bed, but, unbeknownst to him, General Kan Soo-Jin had observed his training routine and was impressed at the amount of dedication Hayan-Sek had.

"Perhaps, there is some hope left for him." General Kan Soo-Jin thought.

For the next 3 months, Hayan-Sek stuck to his training routine which consisted of training at dawn, have the regular training, training with the right arm or the formal education, train a little bit at night, finally sleep. At first, there wasn't any changes; at the contrary, he felt more tired, but, as the days progressed, his body began to grow accustomed to the training routine and he began to get better although he wasn't on par with the rest of the recruits/soldiers… Yet.

Then, while he was having classes with Teacher Shi-Kyu, the teacher gave him a piece of paper. And, when Hayan-Sek read it, Hayan-Sek realized that the piece of paper was actually an invitation to attend Kan Kyo-Ga's birthday party and, on the back, there was General Kan Soo-Jin's seal.

"I-I can't accept this, Teacher Shi-Kyu." Hayan-Sek said.

"You must. General Kan Soo-Jin ordered me to give this to you, but, at the end, the choice is yours." Teacher Shi-Kyu said.

Hayan-Sek nodded and said, "Teacher Shi-Kyu, is it possible for me to personally thank General Kan Soo-Jin for the invitation?"

"I doubt it." The teacher responded, which made Hayan-Sek a little bit sad, but he didn't want to show it so he smiled and said, "I understand."

After that exchange, Hayan-Sek's lesson was over and, when Hayan-Sek entered his room, he quickly read the invitation again (which stated that the birthday party would be in 5 days), then he looked at his clothes which were standard for new recruits, but, when compared to the clothes of nobles, the clothes could be considered an insult. Also, according to the lectures about social gatherings that Teacher Shi-Kyu had taught him, in a birthday party the one who was invited must bring a gift. Needless to say, Hayan-Sek felt inadequate.

**Author's Note**

**New chapter and don't forget to RSS!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: Birthday**

The five days had passed and Hayan-Sek had come up with a plan. First, he would personally clean his clothes at the best of his abilities (hoping that none of the nobles would be too offended) and, as a gift, Hayan-Sek had written a poem that praised Kan Kyo-Ga and wished him the a long and happy future, which, when he gave to his teacher to make revisions, was praised by Teacher Shi-Kyu although Hayan-Sek still thought that it was going to get rejected, but he didn't voice this thought.

When the day of the birthday arrived, the morning and afternoon seemed to pass off in a blur and, when it was night, Hayan-Sek was going to start with his plan, but, instead of going to his room, he was escorted to a spacious, lavish room which had a giant pool of water in the middle. Hayan-Sek was awestruck until one of the escorts said, "This room is only used by General Kan Soo-Jin and his family, but General Kan Soo-Jin has decided to make an exception with you."

Hayan-Sek nodded, took off his clothes and the metal 'arm', and entered the giant pool of water. At first, Hayan-Sek was surprised at the warm temperature of the water, but, after a few minutes, Hayan-Sek felt happy and comfortable in the warm water until he remembered the birthday party he needed to attend. So, he quickly submerged in the warm water hoping that all of the dirt in his body would somehow disappear and, after submerging for a few more times, he felt as if all the dirt had vanished but, when he saw all of the escorts, he saw that they had a worried expression on their faces.

"What's wrong?" Hayan-Sek asked.

"You have scars on your back. When did you get hurt?" One of the escorts asked with a worried tone in his voice.

"I didn't even realize that I had scars. But, I think that they are from the time before I came here." Hayan-Sek confessed.

The escort nodded, then, while Hayan-Sek was getting out of the giant pool of water, another escort, who was holding expensive towels, gave the towels to Hayan-Sek, who quickly tried to wrap himself with the towels, but it proved difficult for him, so another escort asked if he could help to which Hayan-Sek quickly nodded. After helping, Hayan-Sek thanked the escort and another escort told him that they needed to head to his (Hayan-Sek's) room.

"Why?" Hayan-Sek asked.

"We had received orders that there is something important in your room." The escort nodded.

Hayan-Sek nodded and he along with the rest of the escorts headed to his room where he saw that there were clothes on top of his bedroom, but, upon having a better look at the clothes, Hayan-Sek realized that the clothes strongly resembled the clothes worn by the nobles and, at first, Hayan-Sek thought this was some sort of mistake until one of the escorts confirmed that there was no mistake. So, with the help of the escorts, Hayan-Sek was able to put on the clothes, but, when it came to his right arm, Hayan-Sek was surprised that one of the escorts asked, "Is it possible for you to make your arm smaller?"

"Yes." Hayan-Sek said and tried to do it which ended in his right arm being slightly larger than his left arm.

Hayan-Sek felt ashamed, but the escort told him that there was nothing wrong with it. That is when Hayan-Sek realized that the right sleeve was longer than the left sleeve and soon the escort began to gently wrap the right sleeve around Hayan-Sek's right arm, therefore it would cover the right arm from prying eyes. After the escort finished hiding Hayan-Sek's right arm, one of the escorts gently styled Hayan-Sek's hair in a bun which helped Hayan-Sek realized that, after the birthday, he should cut his hair.

"Thank you." Hayan-Sek said to the escorts who were helping him. In response, the surprised escorts bowed their heads as a sign of appreciation.

Because Hayan-Sek was living in a private quarter inside the palace, it didn't take long for him and the escorts to reach the main room where the birthday was taking place. Upon arriving there, Hayan-Sek was awestruck at the amount of wealth displayed in front of him; it was as if he had just entered another world, thus, when he looked at what he was wearing and the poem that he had quickly grabbed before he exited the private quarter, he felt ashamed and out of place, yet, after all the work the escorts had done, he didn't want to make them feel bad, so he put up a happy façade.

"We should get going." One of the escorts informed Hayan-Sek, who realized that the escorts were waiting for him to stop being so awestruck by the palace. So, Hayan-Sek nodded and they began to walk to a well-hidden seat, but, during the walk Hayan-Sek, realized that the escorts were covering him from everyone's sight. But, he didn't question it because who would want to see a deformed child casually walking in the palace?

When they reached the seat, he was the only one who was seated. When he realized this, Hayan-Sek asked why the escorts didn't have chairs to which one escort said, "We don't need chairs."

"Then, I don't need it either." Hayan-Sek said. Then, he stood up to which another escort tried to persuade to sit down because the birthday was going to be very long.

"You're going to stand during the whole party, so why can't I do the same?" Hayan-Sek asked.

"We received orders from General Kan Soo-Jin that you should be seated." An escort replied.

"In that case, I'll have to talk to him because I'll sit down if the rest of you have chairs." Hayan-Sek said which both surprised and scared the escorts.

"I'm afraid that won't be possible because General Kan Soo-Jin is busy at the moment." An escort said.

"What is he busy with?" Hayan-Sek said to which an escort responded by pointing at an elaborate throne which has other smaller, yet elaborate thrones beside it. Then, the escort pointed at a door made from gold.

"General Kan Soo-Jin and his family are getting ready." The escort said.

"But why is it so important?" Hayan-Sek asked.

"Do you see the wealth displayed here?" An escort asked.

Hayan-Sek nodded.

"For the nobles here, this is just a fact of their daily lives and, after seeing the amount of wealth that they and other nobles have, General Kan Soo-Jin and his family must show them that they have more riches and importance than them." After the escort said that, music was heard and it announced that General Kan Soo-Jin and his family where going to come in, but to Hayan-Sek the music sounded as if it was announcing the coming of an enemy.

When General Kan Soo-Jin and his family entered the main room, Hayan-Sek was again awestruck because the clothes looked as if they were made from gold, silver, and other kinds of precious minerals he could think of. Thus, General Kan Soo-Jin and his family looked as if they were gods who descended from Heaven. Then, Hayan-Sek realized that the escorts and nobles were bowing, so Hayan-Sek did that while hoping that no one realized his earlier mistake.

Everybody was bowing until General Kan Soo-Jin ordered them to stop, then he thanked everybody for coming and made a short speech reminding everyone of the importance of the Emperor, the Emperor's family, General Kan Soo-Jin's family and the Fire Tribe as a whole. Then, the party began with a play composed by actors from a distant land that Hayan-Sek didn't know about. And the play was about the last battle King Hiryuu and the Dragons had before Kouka was established. One might think that last battle was against an army, but the last battle was against one man, Hong Se-Chan, who was renowned for being the only one who could fight against King Hiryuu and the Dragons, and either won or ended the fight in a stalemate; never a loss. And, the battle took place in the room were everyone currently was, the only difference was that back then that room was on fire and, according to some historical records and songs, the flames appeared to reach the sky.

**Author's Note**

**Sorry for taking so long and I hope everyone likes this. Also, don't forget to RSS!**


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